Construction-Site Visit: Bastion Saint-Antoine (Patrimoine suisse Genève)

Patrimoine suisse Genève opens the Bastion Saint-Antoine building site to the public for an hour, guided by the people running it. The bastion sits beside one of the main approaches to Geneva’s historic centre, and what lies under it turned the square into an archaeological problem before it became an architectural one: excavations between 2012 and 2015 brought up Gallo-Roman remains, a necropolis of more than three hundred graves, parts of the church of Saint-Laurent and stretches of the city’s fortification walls.

The competition brief that followed asked for something harder than a shelter. The new building has to show those remains to visitors while preserving them, and at the same time give the promenade Saint-Antoine a public space worthy of it. The winning scheme, Lanternaux, was designed by Atelier_Traces Architectures with Estar between 2017 and 2020 for the Ville de Genève, Direction du patrimoine bâti. The visit is led by Christian Pesch, director of built heritage, Philippe Ramseier, the architect responsible for the works, and Pierre Tourvieille, head of the architectural heritage conservation unit — the three people who can explain why the design turned out the way it did.

Practical details

• When: Tuesday 18 August 2026, 12:15
• Where: at the site entrance, on the pavement of rue Charles-Galland at the corner with rue Théodore-de-Bèze, Geneva
• Language: French
• Admission: free
• Registration: required, by email to info@patrimoinegeneve.ch or by telephone on 022 786 70 50
• Note: sturdy footwear is compulsory — this is a live building site

Full details are on the association’s own event page. Cultural Heritage Online lists this visit for readers planning a trip to Geneva; registration is handled directly by Patrimoine suisse Genève.